Sterrenberg said it was in the process of vacating another facility in Burwood, NSW, with a view to having only three data centres – one in Hume, near the ACT-NSW border, and two in the southern Canberra suburb of Tuggeranong – by 2014.

In line with a 2010 infrastructure management deal, the DHS took on the “final pieces” of the Department of Veteran Affairs’ IT in December, and was preparing to assume responsibility for Medicare and Child Support Agency systems this year.

Medicare will end its 12-year outsourcing relationship with IBM in December. The Child Support Agency’s 12-year contract with Hewlett-Packard – formerly EDS – expires in June.

The department is also in the middle of negotiations with telecommunications service providers to establish a consolidated managed service arrangement for its sites and agencies.

Sterrenberg said work to integrate the various agency IT systems was like “flying an aeroplane and trying to fix the engine at the same time”.

“We move very carefully,” he said. “We’ve got really detailed plans that support all the execution; they are really tightly governed because obviously the impact can be quite significant if we get it wrong.

“To me, there’s such an emotional connection with the community when you work for the DHS,” said Sterrenberg, who formerly led ANZ retail bank’s IT.

“At the end of it is people in need; if something goes wrong, it has a real impact on people’s lives.”

Desktop staff join infrastructure team

The fourth and final component of SDR is a desktop modernisation project that aims to deliver a common environment to the department’s 37,000 workers.

The department targeted a “hybrid” fleet of thin and fat clients, with the latter catering predominantly to laptop computers.

Ten thousand users will migrate to the new platform by June, and a further 15,000 in the following six months, with a view to completing the enterprise-wide rollout in 2013.

Desktop Modernisation is one of a number of ICT teams that Sterrenberg “realigned” in recent months to clarify accountabilities and remove workload overlaps in the newly merged super-agency.

The Desktop Modernisation Branch was incorporated into an existing ICT Integration Branch, responsible for establishing a shared model of all of the department’s ICT Infrastructure services.

“We had a specific program set out running the common desktop and we felt that it was better to move that area back into the infrastructure division,” he said.

“We were finding that there were people running the business and people changing the business, it was better to bring those two within an infrastructure division rather than have infrastructure being managed in two different places.”

Sterrenberg said he has adopted an “industry-standard” operational model. No staff were made redundant as a result of the reshuffle, he said.

Decades of work to do

Sterrenberg said his goals for the next three years at the DHS are “clearly defined”, and revolve around shared services and driving more consumer transactions online.

He highlights discussions between the DHS and community groups on “co-designing” new service channels, including mobile and online applications, but said it is too early to discuss timelines as the development was “still in progress”.

Decisions on how DHS IT projects will be affected by Federal budget cuts, announced late last year, would be revealed in the department's annual report later this year, Sterrenberg said.

“We continue to look for opportunities to provide better service to our customers,” he said. “Our emphasis is to drive more transactions online because online channels tend to be cheaper than other channels.”

Last year, Sterrenberg’s predecessor Wadeson told iTnewsthat he expected the department to still be working to bring legacy systems online for the next two decades.

Sterrenberg agrees: “Given that we’ve got these massive engines that support the customer base out there, it’s not something that you want to do very quickly.

“Obviously there will be limitations on what we can invest, and how much we can physically do. Certainly, it’s a journey for the next ten to 15 years.”

Take part in discussions with comments on blogs, news and reviews; receive all the latest industry news directly to your inbox and tailor make your information specifically to your interests. Join now for free.

Please check your email

A confirmation email has been sent to your email address - SUPPLIED GOES EMAIL HERE. Please click on the link in the email to verify your email address. You need to verify your email before you can start posting.

If you do not receive your confirmation email within the next few minutes, it may be because the email has been captured by a junk mail filter. Please ensure you add the domain @itnews.com.au to your white-listed senders.